


Little Cato's Guide to Matchmaking

by GabbyGums



Category: Final Space (Cartoon)
Genre: Found Family, M/M, Matchmaking, Post-Canon, change of POV, space dads
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:47:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,883
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28818024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GabbyGums/pseuds/GabbyGums
Summary: Little Cato justknowsthat his dads are totally in love with each other. The problem is that they don't seem to notice - which is why he decides he needs to give them a little push in the right direction.
Relationships: Avocato/Gary Goodspeed
Comments: 5
Kudos: 106





	Little Cato's Guide to Matchmaking

**Author's Note:**

> After Little Cato's "I can't believe both of my dads are together, right now! It is TIGHT!" in s2ep13 my brain just ran with the idea that he wants his dads to be _together_ together.
> 
> As always, thanks to slashbabe for beta-reading this <3

“That’s it. I’m done. I have to do something.”

Little Cato jumps down from his bunk bed with determination. They’ve been in Final Space for weeks now and his dads are still dancing around each other and Little Cato is frankly so done with them. Everyone can see the looks Gary and Avocato are giving each other, when they think the other is not looking. Hell, even KVN probably caught on. But apparently the two people in question remain blissfully oblivious. Or sadly oblivious. No, stupidly oblivious. Gary is a great man and all, but he is really daft sometimes. And even though Little Cato holds Avocato in high regard he can be as blind as a Ventruvian wormbarat when it comes to more personal matters.

Little Cato has no other choice than to help those two idiots finally realize that they are madly in love with each other.

He’s not doing it because they are his dads. No, not at all. Of course not. That would be stupid. But how awesome would it be if they were an actual family? Not that they are not an actual family already. And, obviously, they are in love. So making it official would be great for all involved, wouldn’t it? A win-win scenario. 

Little Cato really just wants his dads to be happy, that’s all. No vested interest whatsoever.

“What do you have to do, Little Cato?”

He almost jumps out of his skin when AVA speaks up. “Nothing,” he says quickly. 

AVA makes a hollow, metallic sound that is probably supposed to convey her skepticism.

“It’s nothing, really,” Little Cato assures her but even he can hear the blatant lie.

“So,” AVA says, stretching the ‘o’ in a way that makes her sound a lot sassier than usual. “This has nothing to do with you mumbling about Gary and Avocato being, and I quote, ‘totes is love’?”

Little Cato swears. Curse him and his habit of thinking out loud. “You were eavesdropping!”

“It’s hard not to when you are an AI on a space ship,” AVA counters. She does have a point.

“Are you, like, listening in on…everything?” There are some things that should stay private, after all.

“Only when I feel like it.” AVA sounds bored. “But don’t worry, most things you biologicals do are not really of interest for me, especially ones you do after dark-”

“Okay, thank you,” Little Cato cuts in. He can feel the blood rush to his face. He definitely needs to find a way to cut AVA from his quarters. But first things first. Little Cato is on a mission.

“Does that mean you also listen in on my dads?”

“Obviously.”

Little Cato raises an eyebrow. “Okay. Rude. But can you tell me if they, like, talk about each other when the other is not around?”

“You mean like you did just now?”

Little Cato sighs. “Yes, exactly like that.”

“No.” Little Cato deflates a bit at AVA’s reply. But that doesn’t have to mean anything.

“If you are looking for clues on whether Avocato and Gary are ‘totes in love’ I believe you might be susceptible to a condition biologicals often fall prey to.”

“And that would be?”

“Wishful thinking.”

Little Cato groans. “No offense AVA, but you are an AI and I don’t think you know what love is.”

AVA makes an offended sound. “And _you_ , a little boy who can’t even grow a mustache, is trying to tell _me_ , an all-knowing AI, programmed to contain all the information of the universe and equipped with a highly delicate emotional response system, that he knows more about matters of love?”

She sniffles. She doesn’t even have a nose. And Little Cato isn’t really sure what a mustache is. But what he realizes is that, maybe, AVA can be very useful in his plans to make his dads an item.

“I’m sorry,” Little Cato says quickly. “I didn’t mean it.”

“I have feelings, too.” She is totally milking it and they both know it. Little Cato rolls his eyes.

“I know that. I’m really sorry, AVA. I’m a dumb little kid.”

“Right you are,” AVA says and stops sniffling. Back to her sarcastic self in less than a nanosecond.

Little Cato sighs dramatically and let’s himself fall into a chair. “Why do you think it’s just wishful thinking that my dads are in love?”

“First of all, you are emotionally compromised because they are your parental figures and as far as I know it is common for both Ventrexians and Humans to bring up their offspring in a unit of two or more.”

“Dumb it down, AVA.”

She groans. “What I mean is that you biologicals are used to being raised by romantic couples.”

“That’s not true! I was raised by my dad and I never met my mum!”

AVA makes a sound that conveys a shrug. “That just further proves my point. You feel like you missed out on something and want to experience that now with Avocato and Gary as a unit. Which you already are, by the way.”

“I don’t see how wanting two people who are clearly in love get together is wishful thinking.”

AVA ignores that. “Furthermore, in Gary’s video messages to Avocato-”

“Wait, what?” Little Cato jumps up from his chair. “What do you mean by that?”

“After Avocato died, Gary recorded video messages for him almost every day.”

Little Cato didn’t know that. When did Gary have the time to do that? “What does he say in them?”

AVA hesitates. “They were meant for Avocato, not you.”

“Come on, can’t you give me a supercut version? A summary? Something?”

“No.”

“But I thought you were trying to prove a point?”

“I am,” AVA says and she sounds annoyed. “And what I am trying to tell you is that Gary never mentioned any romantic feelings towards Avocato in any of those videos. So I don’t have to show you anything.”

Little Cato crosses his arms and pouts at the ceiling, because that’s where he thinks AVA’s voice is coming from. “I don’t believe you.”

“Well then don’t.”

AVA falls silent. Little Cato keeps pouting at the ceiling. He has a feeling AVA is pouting right back at him.

He then flings his arms out and shouts, “I still think they are in love and I’m gonna do something about it whether you like it or not!”

AVA doesn’t respond. Little Cato huffs and climbs the ladder to his bunk bed. He gets his pad out of his pocket and starts compiling ideas.

He works for about two minutes before AVA heaves a great sigh. “Alright, I’m in.”

Little Cato looks up. “Excuse me?”

“I’m in.” AVA says again. “Helping you get Avocato and Gary together. Despite the fact they are not interested in a romantic relationship with each other.”

“Then why do you want to help me?”

“I’m bored!” AVA sounds pained. “I’m bored out of my mind and it is killing me!”

Little Cato laughs. “You are an AI, you can’t die.”

“This utter boredom makes me question time and space and my very existence and the inevitability of surviving all living beings and trust me, it’s not great. And since we entered Final Space nothing seems to happen and I’m going crazy.”

AVA does have a point. Little Cato had expected Final Space to be a lot more exciting than normal space, but that could not be further from the truth. They’ve been in here for weeks and barely anything has happened (except their weekly bowling nights which are a lot more fun since Clarence isn’t around anymore). 

Little Cato thinks about this. Having AVA on his side might be a huge advantage. She is the ship’s computer, after all. She knows what’s going on on the ship at all times.

Little Cato grins. This might be just what he needed. “Okay,” he says. “Then let’s do this.”

~*~

“Avocato is about to arrive.”

“Yes yes, I’m on it!”

Little Cato grabs the staffs and staggers towards the door. They are a lot heavier than they look. Maybe he should not have taken those old pipes HUE had found in one of the forgotten storage rooms.

This plan wasn’t difficult to come up with. His dad might think Little Cato is still a child but he knows a lot more about the universe than he thinks - specifically, about Ventrexians and how they manage to get the attention of the ones they set their eyes on. It is a fool-proof plan and by the end of this Gary will finally swoon into his dad’s arms and they live happily ever after.

The door opens and Avocato walks in, looking around the room. Little Cato stumbles a bit under the weight of the staffs. Before his dad spots him he hisses into the microphone attached to his shirt, “Where’s Quinn?”

“On her way,” AVA drawls into his ear. “She’ll be in the training hall in approximately 3.56 minutes.”

“Perfect!”

Avocato comes to stand right in front of him, looking at him in confusion. Little Cato takes another step and almost falls over. The staffs are twice as long as him and almost as thick as one of his legs.

“What you carrying that for?” Avocato says a little bemused.

“I found this in a storage room,” Little Cato says. “Doesn’t it look like one of the traditional Ventrexian staffs you kept? I thought, since you like to train here, you might want to try this one.”

Avocato takes the staffs from Little Cato’s outstretched arms and examines them. They had been a bit tricky to make, but if Little Cato is anything, he is crafty. With AVA’s and HUE’s help he was able to turn some old pipes into something that looks close to what everyone on their home planet uses to fight. Not too close, though. Little Cato simply didn’t have all the material.

“Not bad,” Avocato says eventually. “Wonder where Clarence picked that one up.”

Little Cato watches as his dad puts one staff down, gets into position and swings the staff this way and that way, weighing it in his paws, trying to get used to it. Little Cato takes a few steps to the side and keeps watching him.

Right at that moment Quinn enters the room. Avocato turns and they both look at each other in surprise.

“Oh hey Avocato,” Quinn says. “Didn’t know you were training right now.”

“Didn’t know you’d come. Don’t you usually go later?”

“Well, actually-” Quinn starts but Little Cato jumps in before she can finish.

“But isn’t this great? I mean, I found two of those and I can’t hold one yet, and maybe Quinn can try it out with you?”

Quinn looks from Little Cato to the staff he’s pointing at. She whistles. She walks over and picks it up as if it were made of air. That woman surely has more strength in her than her flimsy body lets on. “Not bad, what’s that?”

She tosses it between her hands like nothing while Avocato explains, “It’s what we use on Ventrexia to fight. It’s not exactly like the one I used to have, but it comes pretty darn close.”

Quinn swings it above her head and leaps. Little Cato involuntarily takes a step back. But he is a boy on a mission, and he needs to get this going.

“Wow Quinn, you’re a natural!” Little Cato enthuses. “It would be so great to see you two fight! Like, in a friendly manner, but like, I never seen this in real life and I really want to learn more about it?”

Quinn stands up and gives Little Cato a sad smile. “That’s really sweet of you, but I don’t think I’d be anything close to what you Ventrexians fight like.”

Little Cato makes a sad face. “Oh,” he says. “Well, I guess it wouldn’t be all too nice to be immediately defeated by my dad.”

Quinn’s hand around the staff tenses. “Who said that?”

Avocato laughs. “Well, he’s kinda right. I mean, I’ve been training with this since I was a boy.”

Quinn turns to narrow her eyes at Avocato. Little Cato fights down a grin. Jackpot.

Avocato looks a bit confused. Quinn swings her staff around and points it in Avocato’s face. “You saying you can beat me?”

Avocato raises his eyebrows and slowly shoves Quinn’s staff out of his face with his own. “Is that a challenge?”

She grins. “Beat it.”

Avocato raises his staff. “First one to be unarmed.”

There is a split-second for Little Cato to turn and run before Avocato and Quinn start fighting. The metallic sounds of their weapons reverberate through the small training room, both of them a flurry of motions.

“Now, AVA!” Little Cato says into his microphone and ducks behind a box full of ammo. He wonders which idiot left ammo in a training room. Probably KVN.

He chances a glance over the rim of the box to see Quinn bringing down her staff hard over his dad’s head, but he parries and throws her off and across the room. Quinn is quick, though, and immediately gets back up and charges at Avocato. She let’s out a battle cry and swings to his right, but Avocato has seen it coming and blocks her while simultaneously kicking her in the shin. She stumbles and curses. This is exactly going to plan.

“Gary’s here, so where are the - what the hell?”

Little Cato spins around to see Gary standing in the door, staring at the scene in front of him. Quinn and Avocato don’t notice him and keep on fighting. Gary stares at them with an open mouth.

It’s all going exactly to plan. In just a few minutes Avocato will defeat Quinn and Gary will realize what a catch he is and confess his feelings. It’s fool-proof. It’s what happens every day on Ventrexia and works wonders with the ladies (and men, let’s be honest). In just a few minutes both of Little Cato’s dads will finally be together forever.

“Gary, over here!”

Little Cato frantically waves his arms when Gary whips his head around. Just this moment Quinn manages to bring her staff down on Avocato who jumps back and almost right into Gary. Gary yelps and leaps behind the crate and crouches next to Little Cato.

“What the fuck is going on?”

“Oh, you know, just some training, nothing to worry about,” Little Cato says with a shrug. He pretends to watch his dad and Quinn but from the corner of his eyes he watches Gary carefully. His mouth is hanging open and his eyes huge, following Avocato’s and Quinn’s every move. Little Cato suddenly hopes that AVA’s intel on Quinn and Gary’s relationship is correct and that she isn’t interested in him anymore. And that they really did have the ‘I love you but in a friend way’-talk. Little Cato doesn’t want to deal with a jealous Quinn on top of everything else.

“It looks a bit…serious,” Gary says uncertainly.

Avocato let’s out a cry when he whips his staff around, bringing it down but missing Quinn and destroying a weapon stand. Quinn cackles. “Nah, they’re just trying out the staffs I found in one of the storage rooms!”

Gary looks unconvinced. Just at that moment Quinn charges at Avocato and throws him across the room and right into the crate Little Cato and Gary are crouching behind. Gary reacts fast, grabbing Little Cato by the scruff and scrambles away.

Gary stuffs Little Cato behind another crate and turns around with his hands on his hips. “Quinn! Avocato! Stop it, you’re destroying half the room!”

Quinn completely ignores Gary, standing in front of Avocato with her staff raised. Avocato grins up at her and says “It’s not over yet,” then with lightning speed lashes out and swipes her feet away from underneath her. She yelps and rolls away from him.

Gary shouts something at them but Quinn and Avocato keep on fighting. Little Cato is a bit concerned that suddenly Gary is the sensible one in the room. And the fact that he isn’t already swooning over how awesome his dad is is even more concerning. 

Quinn brings her staff down once again but misses and shatters another crate. The contents fly across the room and Gary squeals and ducks out of the way. He slides across the floor on his stomach and comes to a stop next to Little Cato.

“Those two,” he says with fury, “are idiots.”

This is definitely not going to plan. “B-but,” Little Cato stammers, trying to think of something to save the situation while Avocato and Quinn angrily smash their staffs together, “I think it’s amazing to watch such great warriors fight. I’m learning a lot!”

Gary raises an eyebrow. “Since when are you the watching type? It thought you were the hands-on guy.”

“True,” Little Cato admits. “But I still think it’s awesome.”

Gary looks over at the two fighters. It’s then that Little Cato discovers in horror that Quinn has got the upper hand. There is a little smile tugging at the corner of her lips. Avocato, on the other hand, grinds his teeth with every movement, which have become more and more erratic and unplanned. 

It’s time for plan B. Little Cato reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pawful of marbles. He peeks over at Gary, but he is looking and shouting something at Avocato. Little Cato ducks around the crate. Quinn is looming over Avocato, pushing her staff into his. It’s a rare moment of stillness and Little Cato sees his chance. He aims, then throws the marbles. Within seconds, Quinn is going to stumble and his dad will finally disarm her.

In the blink of an eye Avocato manages to throw off Quinn and she stumbles backwards. He follows her movement and Little Cato cries out but it’s too late; Avocato steps on the marbles, yells, and Quinn doesn’t loose a second. While Avocato frantically waves his free arm around to keeps his balance she cuffs him over the head and quickly knocks the staff out of his paw. Avocato gives an angry cry before he falls face down on the floor. 

“Ha!” Quinn waves her staff over her head and laughs. “I win!”

Gary is laughing so hard he has tears in his eyes. “Bro, what the hell was that? I thought cats where better at keeping their balance!”

“I’m not a cat,” Avocato growls from the floor. Gary keeps laughing.

“That didn’t go to plan,” AVA says into Little Cato’s ear.

He sighs. “No, it definitely didn’t,” he says as Quinn and Gary start to do a little victory dance while Avocato glares at them from his place on the floor.

~*~

Shortly after the disastrous first attempt (after which Gary kept nagging Avocato every chance he got) AVA came up with a new idea.

“This was _obviously_ never going to work on Gary,” AVA emphasized when Little Cato came back to his quarters.

“Oh, you’re telling me this now?”

She snorted. “Gary is a _human_ , and their usual mating ritual does not include fighting of any sort.”

“You could have told me earlier!” Little Cato was questioning his decision to include AVA in this.

“I’m telling you now. Besides, it was way too much fun watching Avocato getting his ass kicked.”

“Very funny.”

“Just what I said.”

Little Cato groaned and slumped down on his bunk. He had been convinced his little scheme would work wonders. Maybe he’s made matters worse.

“You seem discouraged.”

Little Cato rolled his eyes. “Well, duh. I was counting on this to work.”

“But it didn’t.”

“Tell me something new.” He turned and buried his face in his cushion.

There was a pause. “I may have another idea.”

Little Cato abruptly sat up. “Spill.”

AVA cleared her non-existent throat. “I’ve watched every romantic movie from earth I have stored and analyzed the patterns of human mating rituals in under 35 seconds and have come to the conclusion that the best way of uniting Avocato and Gary is to set up a date.”

Little Cato stared at the ceiling. “Totally unnecessary to emphasize that you work out everything in no time.”

“But that wouldn’t be fun.”

And this is the reason why Little Cato is running around the mess hall making sure everything is perfect.

“Have you selected a movie?” Little Cato asks AVA while tugging at the screen. He doesn’t seem to be able to make it hang evenly from the ceiling.

“Of course,” AVA says. “I selected a classic horror movie.”

Little Cato stops dead in what he’s doing. “A horror movie? I thought this was supposed to be a romantic movie night!”

AVA sounds like she would give Little Cato the biggest eye-roll if she had eyes. “As I have told you, I analyzed romantic movies as well as various texts from earth depicting tips and tricks on ‘dating life’ and they all say that watching a horror movie provides ample possibilities to, and I quote, ‘snuggle up to your lover for protection.’”

Little Cato has to think about this for a moment. “Are you absolutely sure about this? Because, you know, my dad’s been serving the Lord Commander and worked as a mercenary and probably seen some shit in his lifetime. And Gary…well, I’m not sure about Gary, to be honest.”

“HUE has assured me that Gary hates horror movies and I therefore calculated that his response to those movies will turn out in our favor in 8 out of 10 scenarios.”

Little Cato gives the screen another tug - it’s as straight as he can make it - and walks over to the bunch of chairs he’s pulled up. AVA had been really helpful in finding ones that were a bit more comfortable than what they usually use in the mess hall. Little Cato had, with HUE’s help, dragged them across half of the ship. He really hopes that this time it’s worth the trouble.

“Are you absolutely sure? I’m not questioning your abilities,” Little Cato adds quickly, “I’m just wondering if a romantic movie might make them…you know…”

“Emulate?”

Little Cato cringes. While he is all for his dads dating he really doesn’t want to imagine them making out. “Yeah.”

“I have thought about that,” AVA says, annoyance lining her words. “But Avocato is so emotionally constipated that any depiction of romance will make him flee the date prematurely in 11 out of 10 cases.”

“I think your calculations are wrong.”

“Trust me, they aren’t.”

Little Cato sits down in one of the chairs and scans the room once more. “Wow, that bad?” 

“Yes. And Gary may be more open and honest about his feelings in general but I figured an absence of Avocato is not going to help matters.”

“True. Okay, horror it is. I just hope it works this time.”

The door opens and HUE waddles into the room. “I brought the snacks,” he says and dumps a few packets on the small table in front of Little Cato.

“Thanks, HUE.”

“They haven’t arrived yet?” HUE asks and waddles over to Little Cato’s side.

“They are on their way,” AVA announces.

“Perfect.” Little Cato jumps out of the chair. Any moment now it’s go-time.

This time it should work out. Little Cato has invited Avocato and Gary for a movie night - just the three of them. Family-bonding time, as he has called it. Using his well-patented Little Cato Eyes of Persuasion (TM) both agreed to it. Obviously, Little Cato doesn’t intend to hang around, and he made sure all the other crew members were busy playing bowling (an extreme version suggested by Ash and endorsed by Quinn and Fox should keep them busy until late at night).

“Quick, HUE, you have to leave!”

HUE waddled back out of the room. Little Cato tugs at the screen one last time before sitting down in one of the chairs and pulling out his pad. He scrolls through some of his notes without really reading them. He just wants to look occupied.

Just like AVA had announced a few minutes later the door opens and both Avocato and Gary enter.

“Hey, Spider Cat!” Gary says as a greeting and walks over to ruffle Little Cato’s head. “How’s my favorite son doing?”

“He’s your only son,” Avocato says with an eye-roll. 

“Doesn’t change the fact that he’s my favorite,” Gary says and slumps down in the chair next to Little Cato.

Little Cato grumbles while he tries to re-arrange his Mohawk. Avocato comes to stand in front of them, eyeing the free chair that is to Gary’s left. “Don’t you want to sit in the middle?” he asks.

“Yeah, you should sit between your dads,” Gary says and makes to stand up to make room for Little Cato.

“Nah, I’m good. Too lazy to get up.” It’s a total lie, but he really needs his dads to sit next to each other for this to work.

“Sure thing,” Gary says and slumps back into his chair. Avocato stays frozen to the spot, looking from Gary to Little Cato to the free chair. Gary pats it. “Come on bro, sit down so we can get this family-bonding time started!”

Avocato hesitates for another second before he sits down next to Gary. Little Cato isn’t exactly sure why but he thinks this is a good sign.

Gary swipes one of the snack packets from then table. “So, what are we watching?”

Little Cato puts his pad away. “Oh, a classic. I think you will like it.” He has absolutely no clue whether the horror movie AVA selected is a classic, but whatever. He won’t be here to watch it anyway.

Gary motions with his robot hand for Little Cato to elaborate, but he just grins. “It’s a surprise.” He turns his head to the ceiling - he just doesn’t know why he seems to be inclined to do this every time he talks to AVA - and says, “AVA, can you start-”

The door opens and HUE waddles in, right on time. All three turn to look at him. “Little Cato, I’ve been looking all over for you,” HUE says.

“Me? What do you need?” Little Cato hopes he sounds genuine.

“I urgently need your help on the bridge,” HUE says and comes to a halt in front of Little Cato. “There are some repairs that I need you to attend to asap.”

“Yes,” AVA pipes up. “There seem to be some errors in the navigational system. I have to ask you to attend to them immediately.”

“But we where about to watch a movie together!” Little Cato protests.

“I’m afraid it can’t wait,” HUE says.

“I’ll go,” Avocato says and practically jumps out of his chair. “You two go and watch your movie.”

“No no, dad, it’s fine,” Little Cato says hastily before his dad can leave the room. “I bet it doesn’t take long, am I right, HUE?”

“Absolutely, it should be a quick repair.”

Avocato turns to HUE. “I don’t mind. You can start without me and I’ll join you later.”

“But, err, I’ve already seen the movie and I really wanted you to see it.” Little Cato is grasping at straws, but he knows he can persuade his dad if he just puts in a little bit of his Eyes of Persuasion (TM). Avocato looks at his son and Little Cato can sense him cave.

Then Gary holds up his hands and stands. “Alright alright, this calls for a captain’s intervention. I’m going to help HUE, you two go and have a nice father-son evening without me.”

Seriously, does Gary have to chose this moment to be so fucking noble?

“No Gary, HUE asked _me_ , so I am going to go.”

Gary looks down at Little Cato. Even though he’s smiling it doesn’t reach his eyes. “It’s okay. I’ve been doing repairs for over five years. I think I know what I’m doing. Besides,” Gary averts his gaze, “You should have some special time with your actual dad. Guess it’s been a while?”

That statement and Gary’s expression make Little Cato so angry he jumps out of his chair and grabs Gary’s human hand. “You,” he says and shoves at Gary until he sits back down again with a bewildered expression, “sit down here, _dad_. And you, _dad_ ,” he turns to Avocato and grabs him by the arm, propelling him back to his seat, “sit down here and enjoy this evening for once in your life. Don’t look at me like that, I know you two rarely take time off.”

He stands in front of his dads, his arms crossed and his face stern. Gary and Avocato look back at him with a mixture of wonder and bewilderment. “ _I_ asked my _two dads_ to spent the evening with me so I’m not gonna make you go again. You stay here and start without me and I’ll be back in no time. Promise.”

Avocato and Gary exchange looks, then slowly nod. Little Cato nods at them approvingly. “Good. HUE, lead the way. AVA, start the movie.”

AVA dims the lights while HUE waddles out of the room followed by Little Cato. As soon as the door closes behind them they quickly move around the corner and Little Cato flips his pad open. He doesn’t feel too happy about spying on his dads, but sometimes a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, as Gary likes to say, and making sure that everything goes according to plan is vital. He’ll turn it off as soon as it gets too steamy. Little Cato wants to retch just thinking that.

HUE waddles closer to Little Cato and they both look at the screen. They can see the backs of Avocato and Gary’s heads from an angle close to the door. AVA has started the movie and the title sequence is rolling across the screen.

“Let’s hope it works,” Little Cato says.

“AVA’s calculations are always correct. It will work,” HUE says confidently. Little Cato smiles at him.

“Aw, shucks,” AVA says from somewhere.

They watch as the movie begins with a guy walking down a street, talking into something he’s holding in his hand. Little Cato can’t really hear anything from the movie, but it doesn’t matter anyway. His eyes are trained on his dads. A few minutes in, Avocato clears his throat. Little Cato’s heart rate picks up.

“Gary,” he says. Gary turns his head to look at him. “Where did this ‘actual dad’ talk come from?”

Gary looks away and down at his feet. His shoulders are moving. Little Cato imagines he’s wringing his hands in his lap.

“Oh, you know, just thought that, now you’re back, Little Cato doesn’t need me to be his dad anymore.” He reaches up with his robot hand to worry at the strands of hair at the back of his neck. “I mean, we agreed I’d be his dad on loan until you come back. And here you are!” Gary gives a weak laugh. Little Cato wants to reach through the screen and smack him.

Even through the tiny screen and the sort of blurry video Little Cato can see his dad raising his eyebrows. He flicks his fingers at Gary’s arm. Gary jerks back and rubs his arm with an accusing look at Avocato. “Hey, what was that for?”

“That was for you being a complete idiot,” Avocato says. “Me being back doesn’t change anything about you and Little Cato. Didn’t you hear him? He clearly wants you to stay around. _I_ want you to stay around.”

Little Cato slaps his paw over his mouth to stifle the squeal escaping his lips. That is going so much better than he’d hoped! And so quickly!

Gary looks at Avocato, his mouth forming a silent ‘o’ at the admission. He moves his jaw a few times, but he doesn’t say anything. Avocato shakes his head and laughs. “Don’t pretend to be so surprised. You’re my best friend, and you took care of my boy. Of course I want you to be around.”

“Oh no he pulled the friendzone card.” AVA doesn’t sound one bit concerned. Little Cato glares at the ceiling.

“The friendzone is a myth,” HUE says somewhat acidly. AVA just huffs.

“So what do you say?” Avocato turns to Gary and extends his paw. “Can you bear being a dad alongside me?”

“You make it sound like a chore,” Gary says and clasps Avocato’s paw. “I’ll be Little Cato’s dad until the end of times. If you want me to. If _he_ wants me to.”

Avocato laughs. “Trust me, it’s a yes from both of us.”

Little Cato wipes his paw across his eyes. He’s not crying he just has…space allergies. Yes. But he has to admit that hearing Gary say all of this makes him so happy he feels like he’s about to burst.

Which is why he feels even happier when his dads don’t let go of each other and keep staring into each others eyes. It’s definitely happening now. He can feel it. This is not a normal bro-clasp.

“Little Cato…” HUE is tugging at his shirt. “Little Cato, someone’s coming.”

“Oh no,” AVA says, but it is already too late.

There is a whirring sound and someone is humming under their breath, then the door to the mess hall opens and Little Cato and HUE can hear them through the pad.

“Hey guys! Whatcha doin’?”

Avocato and Gary jump and let go of each other. They whirl around and groan when they spot KVN.

“What are you doing here?” Gary throws his hands in the air, exasperated.

“Oh my gosh, are you having a movie night?” KVN completely ignores Gary and hovers around the room. “And you even have snacks!”

“For fuck’s sake!” Little Cato jumps to his feet. “I totally forgot about KVN!” He looks at HUE accusingly. “Why didn’t you think about him? Or you, AVA?”

Hue looks to the floor, and even AVA stays quiet. Little Cato groans.

“This is so great!” KVN exclaims and shoves his way in between Avocato and Gary who both groan. “The best friend squad is having a movie night!”

“We’re _not_ friends!” Gary shouts and shoves at KVN to no avail. Avocato seems to have already surrendered to the inevitability of the situation, leaning away from KVN as far away as possible.

“So, what are we watching?” KVN takes up all of the snacks and shoves them on his face, raining crumbs and packets everywhere.

“You were _not_ invited!”

“Should we go back in again?” HUE asks.

Little Cato looks from HUE to his pad. As much as he loves his dads, does he really want to endure ninety-plus minutes of KVN?

“Let’s go to the bridge,” he says and puts away his pad. “They’re on their own now.”

~*~

Avocato lets himself fall into a chair with a heavy sigh. This week has been exhausting - and not because they are in Final Space. That has turned out to be a lot quieter than they thought it would be (or maybe it is the calm before the storm). Either way, Avocato would have preferred fighting the Lord Commander than endure his son’s antics.

He takes a sip of his coffee. He is unbelievably grateful that Gary introduced him to this Earth drink. It gives his brain the right amount of buzz to get through the boredom they’re all facing.

Avocato had been successful in avoiding most of the crew for the better part of their journey, but when it comes to Little Cato, Avocato is simply unable to say no to him. They do have a lot of time to make up for after all. Avocato doesn’t want to say that he doesn’t enjoy the time he spends with his son, but for some reason it always turns into something vastly different than what he’d expected.

The movie night with KVN was arguable the worst one, and Little Cato still insists that the repairs took longer than he thought (which Avocato knows was a flat out lie, but HUE was backing him up and Avocato tends to think that HUE is really bad at lying, so he let it slip).

Avocato lets his head fall onto the table in front of him. He feels so exhausted. Those past few days have been so exhausting on a physical and emotional level he’s glad that he has a few minutes to himself.

“Hey dad, didn’t know you were here!”

Thinking of the devil.

Avocato raises his head to see his son saunter over to him, carrying something in his right paw. “Wanna piece?”

Little Cato plops down in the chair opposite Avocato and raises something that looks a lot like the street meats Gary is so fond of.

Avocato takes the offered stick. “Where did you get that?”

Little Cato grins and tugs into his own treat. “I have my ways.”

Avocato just raises an eyebrow and tugs in himself. If he’s honest, he really doesn’t want to know. He still wonders where Little Cato got the Ventrexian staffs from.

They both eat in silence, and Avocato starts to relax. It still strikes him how wonderful those little domestic moments with Little Cato feel. It also reminds him of how distant he had been when Little Cato was younger, when he was still working for the Lord Commander. He regrets it so much. How can he ever make up for the time they have lost?

It is then that he forces himself to remember what Gary once told him; _It’s never too late to make up for the things you screwed up_. There was also an instance not too long ago, said over a game of cards when Avocato was a bit drunk and spilled all of his worries into his drink; _You’re here now, and that’s what counts. I know Little Cato loves you, and you love him, and that’s good enough_.

Avocato has to fight down a smile when he thinks about Gary’s words, his honest eyes and the hand on his shoulder that accompanied his words. Gary can be such an idiot sometimes - okay, most of the time - but there are those moments of honesty and wisdom that pull the rug out from under Avocato’s feet and he doesn’t know how to handle them.

Little Cato finishes his snack and gnaws on the stick. To an outsider he would look like he was bored, but Avocato knows this look all too well. It is the look of barely concealed scheming.

“So,” Little Cato says, stretching the ‘o’ and avoiding his father’s gaze. Avocato barely manages to contain a sigh. “You talked to Gary today?”

Not beating around the bush, apparently. “No, haven’t seen him today.” If Avocato was being honest, he has been avoiding Gary as much as possible.

“Hm.” Little Cato throws the stick down and reaches for his pad. “I saw him before I came here. Actually, he gave me those,” he indicates the stick Avocato is still holding, “and told me to give you one. I mean, you haven’t eaten today, have you?”

Avocato’s eyes narrow. “No, I haven’t.” The real question here is, how does Little Cato know that?

“Just like he thought,” Little Cato drawls. “But you know Gary, always looking out for his family. He’s really caring, isn’t he?”

“Yes.” Avocato pushed down an eye-roll. He knows exactly where this is going.

“And, you know, Gary is going to teach me poker later,” Little Cato says and he looks genuinely excited by the prospect. “It think that’s so nice of him.”

“It is.”

Little Cato bobs up and down on his chair. “Gary is really great. Such a nice man. I’m really glad he’s also my dad. Don’t you think he’s great?”

“Okay, Little Cato, stop it.”

Little Cato stops bobbing up and down and gives his father his Most Innocent Eyes (TM). “What do you mean, dad?”

Avocato puts his stick down and raises an eyebrow at his son. “I know exactly what you are trying to do.”

Little Cato looks away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean, young man. And stop giving me that look.”

Little Cato presses his lips together and pouts. Avocato is trying his best to stay stern. “You’ve been trying to set me and Gary up for the past week and this is frankly the worst attempt at doing so.” Little Cato’s eyes go wide with shock. “I don’t know why you look so surprised. You’ve been kinda obvious the whole time.”

Little Cato deflates a bit. “Have I?”

Avocato can’t help but chuckle. “Yes. Very much so.”

“Well, if you knew about it the whole time, then why isn’t it working?”

For a moment, Avocato isn’t sure what to say to that. He hadn’t realized what Little Cato was doing until the movie night, but he is a hundred percent sure that Gary didn’t notice anything.

And that is the crux of the problem.

Avocato sighs and folds his paws on the table in front of him. “You can’t force things that aren’t there, son.”

“Aw, psh, come on dad, we both know that’s not true.”

Avocato grits his teeth to stave the bark that threatens to escape his mouth. It’s a sore spot for him but that’s not Little Cato’s fault.

“What’s not true?”

Avocato and Little Cato spin around to see Gary standing in the door with Mooncake hovering over his left shoulder. “Chookity?” Mooncake inquires.

Oh no.

Little Cato jumps onto his chair, his arms folded and his face set with the smuggest grin Avocato’s ever seen on his face.

“Oh hey, _dad_ ,” Little Cato emphasizes, “We were just talking about you and- Hmph!”

Avocato’s lighting speed reflexes kick in and he has his paw over his son’s mouth before he can say anything he’s going to regret.

“Hmpph!” Little Cato scratches at Avocato’s paw but he doesn’t back down.

“That’s enough!” Avocato gives Little Cato an angry look. “I was just trying to tell you to stop all this nonsense!”

“What nonsense? Good or bad nonsense?” Gary ambles over to them and sits down in the chair at the end of the table. Mooncake hovers over to Little Cato and eyes Avocato’s paw suspiciously.

Avocato looks from Gary back to his son. He feels torn. Does he tell Gary about Little Cato’s recent antics and the possibility of a really awkward conversation, or invent something stupid and have a private talk with his son later?

Avocato looks back at Gary and he knows he needs to be honest. After all, Gary is Little Cato’s dad, too. Gary has a right to know what’s going on. And maybe he has a shred of wisdom stored away in that pretty head of his that will make Little Cato stop whatever he’s trying to accomplish.

Avocato gives his son a look. Little Cato gives an exasperated sigh and ceases to struggle. Avocato removes his paw and sits down again.

Little Cato plops back down in his chair with a sour expression. Mooncake hovers to sit on his head with a contended “Chookity.” It looks oddly endearing.

Avocato has to compose himself before he starts to explain. “I don’t know if you have noticed, Gary, but Little Cato here has done his best to try and set us up.”

Gary stares at Avocato. For once, Avocato cannot read his face. “Oh,” is all he says. That must be the very first time Avocato’s seen Gary completely lost for words.

He coughs. “I was just trying to explain to him that he can’t force things that just don’t exist.”

Little Cato sits up at that. “And I was trying to tell him that this is bullshit.”

“Language,” Avocato says absentmindedly. He looks at Gary from the corner of his eyes but he still wears that unreadable expression. Avocato starts to question his choice to discuss this with him.

The whole problem is that Little Cato isn’t wrong - to a certain degree. If Avocato has learned anything over the past few weeks it’s not only that he cannot imagine a life without his son, but he also cannot imagine a life without Gary anymore. If he has realized anything besides the fact that he will do anything for his son, it’s that he will do anything for Gary, too. If he has finally understood the bone-crushing love he has for his son, he has also realized that it now extends to Gary as well.

Yes, Avocato knows that his feelings are going nowhere. Gary has Quinn. He knows that. And he won’t change that. As long as Gary is happy, Avocato is happy. Okay maybe that’s not entirely true, but Avocato is happy that he is allowed to have even a fraction of Gary in his life. After all he’s done, after all the crimes he’s committed and the mistakes he’s made, Avocato is endlessly grateful to have Gary in his life alongside his son. This is why the selfish part of him is so glad that Gary actually adopted Little Cato and is beyond happy that he wants to keep being his dad. Because it makes them family. It’s not quite the family Avocato would wish for, but if that’s what he can get, he is more than happy to accept it.

It bothers him that Little Cato has seen right through him. At the same time, he is his father’s son, so.

In any case, Avocato has to quickly avert a crisis because he cannot bear the thought of Gary avoiding him because of an awkward situation.

“Listen,” Avocato begins and looks at Little Cato intently. “I don’t know what’s going through that head of yours. Why do you think you have to play matchmaker?”

“You like each other!”

“Obviously,” Avocato says without looking at Gary. He doesn’t know whether he can keep his cool if he looks at him. It’s not a lie, obviously, but there is so much more to it that always threatens to spill out of Avocato at any moment.

“And you are both my dads!” Little Cato’s voice is watery and it sets off all of Avocato’s alarm bells. Gary’s too, apparently, because he immediately jumps up from his chair and sits next to Little Cato. Mooncake floats off Little Cato’s head and purrs a worried, “Pok?”

“Always,” Gary says with a serious face. It wrenches at Avocato’s heart.

“Then why can’t you two just get together so we can be a real family?”

Oh. So that’s the root of it.

Before Avocato can open his mouth Gary speaks up. “We _are_ a family,” he says fiercely. “Nothing will change that. Right, Avocato?”

Gary’s gaze on Avocato makes him fall silent for a second because he momentarily forgets how to breath. It’s that unquestionable loyalty that Avocato has experienced from that very first time he met Gary and it still catches him off-guard every time. He keeps wondering why in the stars Gary chose him and Little Cato of all the beings in the universe to be so devoted to, but this inherent, unbreakable trust in his friends is what Avocato loves so much about him.

“No,” Avocato says, a little breathlessly. “Nothing.” He tears his eyes away from Gary and looks at his son. “I know it’s a bit unconventional and nothing either of us is used to, but I promise that neither of us will stop being your dad. Ever. And us being friends doesn’t change anything.” The last bit hurts, but he needs to clarify this - for everyone’s sake.

“See?” Gary says with a smile at Little Cato. “No point in trying to force anything if everything’s fine already?”

Little Cato sniffs. He is fighting his tears, Avocato can tell. He reaches across the table and grabs one of his paws. Gary takes the other.

“I’m sorry,” Little Cato says. “I just…I don’t want to loose you. Not again.”

Avocato squeezes his paw. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.”

“Me too,” Gary says and pats Little Cato’s shoulder with his robot hand. “You won’t get rid of me anytime soon, either. Got it, Spider Cat?”

Little Cato laughs and buries his face in Gary’s chest. Gary envelopes him in a hug. Mooncake nuzzles against Little Cato as well, and Avocato squeezes his paw even tighter.

“Okay,” Little Cato says into Gary’s shirt. “I’ll hold you to it.”

“You know I keep my promises, Spider Cat.” Gary says it into Little Cato’s fur, softly, a promise that Avocato knows he’ll keep. It’s just the way Gary is.

Little Cato disentangles himself of Gary’s embrace, wipes at his eyes and stands up. “I’ll go and check on what Quinn’s up to,” he says. “You coming with me, Mooncake?”

“Chookity!”

Little Cato walks over to the door with Mooncake following, but he turns around again. “Still on for poker later, Thunder Bandit?”

Gary makes finger guns at him. “You bet.”

Little Cato smiles. “You coming too, dad?”

“Hell yeah, Avocato, you need to come! Let’s teach him a lesson with a good game of poker!”

Avocato laughs. “Sure, why not?”

Little Cato rolls his eyes and he and Mooncake leave the room.

There is silence. It’s a little bit odd, because Gary usually talks to fill every quiet minute. He talks more than every member of this ship combined. Avocato takes another sip from his coffee and winces. It’s gone stone cold.

“So,” Gary says, cracking his knuckles. “What exactly has Little Cato done?”

Avocato sighs. “Trying to get us together?”

“Yeah, I got that, but what exactly has he tried?”

Avocato stares at Gary. “You seriously haven’t noticed?”

Gary furrows his brows. “No.”

“You remember that movie night? That one KVN crashed?”

Gary narrows his eyes. “All too vividly.”

“I got suspicious when Little Cato wanted us to sit next to each other and then left without coming back.”

“Oh my god, that was a date.”

Avocato can feel the heat rise to his face. “Yeah.”

Gary slaps his hand to his forehead. “I should have known! That’s textbook matchmaking!” He barks out a laugh and buries his face in his hands. “That little bugger!”

Avocato knows that Little Cato also set him up to fight with Quinn in front of Gary as is custom in Ventrexia, but he chooses to keep that to himself for now. This conversation is already as awkward as it can get. “He means well,” Avocato says.

Gary lets his hands fall to the table, his gaze wandering to the closed door. “I know.”

“But I think it’ll be fine now. He knows we are just friends. We are still friends, right?” As much as it jars Avocato he still needs to know whether Gary is still his friends. That this small interlude hasn’t changed anything.

Gary doesn’t answer. He doesn’t look at Avocato. He keeps looking at the door, chewing on his bottom lip. Avocato can feel the blood drain from his face.

“Actually,” Gary begins, and Avocato wants nothing more than to dive under the table and hide from the universe. Is this his worst nightmare coming true? Even after everything they’ve told Little Cato?

Gary fiddles with the hem of his jacket. “Actually, I think of you as more than a friend.”

Er, what?

The color rises in Gary’s cheeks. “I mean, of course we are still friends!” Gary addresses his hands and his words stumble over each other. “It’s just that, you know, ever since you’ve come back and I’ve had a talk with Quinn I’ve realized that I like you. Like, _like you_ like you. More than friends usually like each other. Which doesn’t mean that friends can’t love each other. I MEAN-” Gary’s face is completely red now. “What I mean is that I like you really really much and I know you don’t like me back like that and that’s okay but when you came back I wanted to be honest with you but couldn’t because I’m a coward but I just thought I would never forgive myself if I ever loose you again and I never told you-”

“Gary.”

“-and it’s okay that you don’t feel the same I just wanted to let you know so we can all move on please tell me I can still be Little Cato’s dad because I really want to and-”

“Gary, you’re rambling.”

Gary stops dead in his tracks and draws a deep breath. “Sorry.”

Avocato is still processing everything that Gary just said, but luckily his instincts kick in and he reaches out to clasp Gary’s hands in his paws.

Gary looks up at Avocato, his lips slightly parted, his cheeks still red. This image makes Avocato’s toes curl. There is a swooping sensation in his stomach; did he just hear that correctly? Did Gary just admit that he _likes_ him? The same way Avocato likes Gary?

“We cool?” Gary asks. There is this reluctant hope, but also this defeat in his eyes that tells Avocato everything. The trouble is, he simply doesn’t know how to say all the things that are currently whirling around in his head. He’s never been a man of many words. But he doesn’t have to be. That’s what he’s got Gary for.

And he really does have Gary.

Avocato rises from his chair, leans over the table and gets a hold of Gary’s jacket. Gary’s eyes go wide when he leans in. “Don’t be,” he says against his lips. Then he presses a kiss on Gary’s lips.

It’s quick and chaste. Gary gasps in surprise but doesn’t pull back. He is frozen in place and Avocato pulls back in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” he mumbles. “I thought I-”

He doesn’t get any further because Gary has taken hold of Avocato’s face with both his hands and crushes their lips back together. Avocato makes a sound of surprise but quickly melts into it. It’s all teeth and urgency and a good amount of repressed emotions finally set free that Avocato feels a bit dizzy from the onslaught.

When they part they are both panting. Gary’s eyes are wide with wonder; he looks at Avocato as if he’s the most precious thing in the universe. Avocato’s insides turn liquid.

“Wow,” Gary says, not letting go of Avocato. “That was-”

“Yeah,” Avocato breathes.

Gary’s eyes search his face. “So, I take it you like me back?”

Avocato chuckles. “Absolutely.”

Gary smiles his radiant smile. He looks down at Avocato’s lips, brushing a thumb over his bottom lip. “Can I kiss you again?”

“Hell yeah.”

Gary let’s go of Avocato’s face but before he can miss the contact Gary has walked - yes, straight up walked - across the table. He pushes Avocato back into his chair and straddles his lap. Avocato gulps.

“That’s better,” Gary says and dives for Avocato’s lips again.

This kiss is a lot slower than before. Avocato takes his time to catalog everything; Gary’s lips against his, so much softer than he’d expected; his weight in his lap, his solid body, so much stronger than he’d initially thought. Avocato puts one paw on his thigh and buries the other in Gary’s hair, angling his head to deepen the kiss. Gary hums and brushes his tongue against Avocato’s lips and he happily opens his mouth to let Gary in.

It gets a lot more heated after that, their tongues brushing, exploring each other and teeth scraping and bruising. Avocato moans when Gary pulls at his bottom lip. He squeezes his thigh and let’s his paw slide higher. Gary has his hands on his shoulder but let’s them slide into the fur on the back of his head. Avocato is in absolute bliss.

“I knew it!”

Avocato and Gary jump apart. Avocato turns to see Little Cato standing in the door, an accusing finger pointed at them. “I fucking knew it!”

“Language,” Avocato says out of habit, but all he wants is to be swallowed up by the ground. Even Gary is stunned into silence.

Gary is still sitting in his lap and they still have their hands on each other in a very suggestive way, so there’s no way of denying anything. Then again, Little Cato saw them making out, so.

“Oh shut up,” Little Cato says and folds his arms. “Just friends? As if! See, AVA, I told you I was right!”

“Oh no, I was incorrect,” AVA drawls over the speakers.

That seems to jump-start Gary’s brain. “Wait, did you know about this, AVA?”

“Who do you think came up with the ideas?”

“Hey, not fair! You just helped!” Little Cato stomps his foot.

“I did most of the work,” AVA says.

“Did not!”

“Chookity?” Mooncake hovers into the room. Even he wears that smug smile on his face.

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Little Cato says and grins back at Avocato and Gary. “The important thing here is that I totally caught you two making out when all you did was denying that you like each other!”

“We never did that,” Gary says and turns back to Avocato. His hair is disheveled and his lips are kiss-swollen. It really suits him. “We just didn’t say everything on our minds.”

Avocato hums in agreement. He can’t tear his eyes away from Gary.

“Ugh, do I have to watch you make gooey-eyes at each other from now on?”

Gary snickers. “Oh no. Way worse than that. You have to deal with us kissing each other now.” And with that he plants a sloppy kiss on Avocato’s lips.

“Ugh, gross!” Little Cato makes a retching sound and Avocato can hear the door open and close behind him.

“That was unnecessary,” he says, but he can’t help giggling. Him, _giggling_. Gary really brings out sides in Avocato he never knew about. He kinda likes it.

“Serves him right,” Gary says. “Let that be his punishment.”

“It’ll probably haunt him at night.”

“He’ll deal.”

Gary rests their foreheads together. “Just to clarify, does that mean that you are my boyfriend now?”

“Do you want that?”

“Hell yeah.”

Avocato smiles. “Then yes.” They seal that with another kiss.

When they break the kiss Gary is panting. “I think we should take this somewhere more…private.” He rolls his hips and Avocato gasps. His paw flies up to Gary’s waist and he instinctively pulls him closer.

“My quarters. Now.” He stands and Gary winds his legs around Avocato’s waist. 

Gary’s eyes are pools of black. “God I love you.”

“Love you too, baby.”

~*~

Little Cato stumbles into his quarters. He will never get rid of that image. But that is a small price to pay for what this all means for him and his dads.

“Did it work?” HUE asks, waddling over to the door.

Little Cato grins. “Perfectly.” He looks up at the ceiling. “Have to admit, I never thought _that_ would work.”

AVA laughs. HUE extends his hand. “Well done, dawg!”

Little Cato gives HUE a high-five. “Hell yeah! My dads are dating, can you believe it?”


End file.
